Derek Perkins has narrated 242 audiobooks on Listento.it by 196 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 15,454 ratings. The most-rated is Sapiens.
A House in the Mountains
Summary
NATIONAL BEST SELLER
The extraordinary story of four courageous women who helped form the Italian Resistance against the Nazis and the Fascists during the Second World War.
In the late summer of 1943, when Italy changed sides in WWII and the Germans, now their enemies, occupied the north of the country, an Italian Resistance was born. Ada, Frida, Silvia, and Bianca were four young Piedmontese women who joined the Resistance, living secretively in the mountains surrounding Turin. They were not alone. Between 1943 and 1945, as the Allies battled their way north, thousands of men and women throughout occupied Italy rose up and fought to liberate their country from the German invaders and their Fascist collaborators. What made the partisan war all the more extraordinary was the number of women in its ranks.
The bloody civil war that ensued across the country pitted neighbour against neighbour, and brought out the best and worst in Italian society. The courage shown by the partisans was exemplary, and eventually bound them together as a coherent fighting force. And the women's contribution was invaluable - they fought, carried messages and weapons, provided safe houses, laid mines and took prisoners. Ada's house deep in the mountains became a meeting place and refuge for many of them. The death rattle of Mussolini's two decades of Fascist rule - with its corruption, greed and anti-Semitism - was unrelentingly violent and brutal, but for the partisan women it was also a time of camaraderie and equality, pride and optimism. They would prove, to themselves and to the world, what resolve, tenacity, and above all, exceptional courage could achieve.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Caroline Moorehead (P)2020 Random House Canada
The Conservative Tradition
Summary
A thorough understanding of Conservatism's lineage, principles, and impact on history is essential to making sense of the 21st-century political dialogue-a dialogue that consumes the television you watch, the newspapers you read, and the radio you listen to. No matter where you place yourself on the ideological spectrum, these 36 lectures will intrigue you, engage you, and maybe even provoke you to think about this political philosophy in an entirely new way. In crafting his exploration of just why this has happened, Professor Allitt has specifically designed his lectures to be objective, neutral, and intellectually satisfying for every viewer and listener - whatever their ideological outlook. Using an easygoing and engaging style, these lectures show you how Anglo-American Conservatism developed and evolved in both Great Britain and the United States; how traditional Conservatism produced evolutionary variants like Neoconservatism and Libertarianism; and the provocative ways in which Conservatism has interacted with differing political philosophies. Following the fascinating history of Conservatism, you'll also meet the widest possible range of thinkers and practitioners behind the Conservative tradition, including John Stuart Mill, Ayn Rand, Francis Schaeffer, Adam Smith, Henry Adams, Alexander Hamilton, William Pitt the Younger, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, H.L. Mencken, William F. Buckley Jr., Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich von Hayek.Whether you consider yourself a Liberal or a Conservative-or something in between-these lectures can make you a more effective and informed citizen, armed with a sharpened understanding of the ways in which this philosophy has influenced events around the world. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2009 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2009 The Great Courses
The Prime Ministers
Summary
The Prime Ministers is the first and only insider account of Israeli politics from the founding of the Jewish State to the near-present day. It reveals stunning details of life-and-death decision-making, top-secret military operations and high level peace negotiations. The Prime Ministers brings listeners into the orbits of world figures, including Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Written in a captivating literary style by a political adviser, speechwriter and diplomat, The Prime Ministers is an enthralling political memoir, and a precisely crafted prism through which to view current Middle East affairs. The Prime Ministers presents first-hand accounts of major historical events, including: Menachem Begin's decision to bomb Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor Yitzhak Rabin's handling of the Entebbe rescue mission The Egypt-Israel peace process The shelling of the Irgun arms ship, the Altalena Deir Yessin It offers keen observations of key personalities, and unforgettable descriptions of political rivalries, diplomatic blunders, White House and Buckingham Palace banquets and more, to bring Israel's history to life in a way no book has done before.
©2010 Yehuda Avner (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
The Fall of the Ottomans
Summary
In The Fall of the Ottomans, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan brings the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region's crucial role in the conflict. Bolstered by German money, arms, and military advisors, the Ottomans took on the Russian, British, and French forces and tried to provoke jihad against the Allies in their Muslim colonies. Unlike the static killing fields of the Western Front, the war in the Middle East was fast moving and unpredictable, with the Turks inflicting decisive defeats before the tide of battle turned in the Allies' favor. The great cities of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and finally Damascus fell to invading armies before the Ottomans agreed to an armistice in 1918. The postwar settlement led to the partition of Ottoman lands between the victorious powers and laid the groundwork for the ongoing conflicts that continue to plague the modern Arab world. A sweeping narrative of battles and political intrigue from Gallipoli to Arabia, The Fall of the Ottomans is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand the Great War and the making of the modern Middle East.
©2015 Eugene Rogan (P)2015 Tantor
The Chieftain
Summary
Connor, chieftain of the MacDonalds of Sleat, holds the fate of his people in his hands. Rival clans are plotting to take over his lands, and duty determines whom he will fight, trust... even marry. Seeking guidance, Connor turns to Ilysa, a young lass with the gift of foresight, who reveals an approaching danger - and a passion that burns only for him. But the warrior must make a powerful marriage alliance, and Ilysa's bloodline is far too humble. With her powers to heal and see evil where others cannot, beautiful Ilysa dresses plainly, speaks softly, and loves her chieftain from afar. Yet when Connor finally stokes the embers of desire that have so long burned within her, Ilysa feels bliss unlike any she's ever known. Now as he is forced to place duty before happiness, Ilysa senses Connor is in grave peril. Can she find a way to prove she is the woman he needs by his side?
©2013 Margaret Mallory (P)2013 Tantor
The Dragon's Codex
Summary
After narrowly escaping Rogue City, Ben travels north into the Deschutes Territory in hopes of finding sanctuary, if only for a little while. His respite is brief and his hunters are persistent. Within a few days he's on the run again. Ben must negotiate the desert, the underground, and the unknowable perils of magic if he is to recover the Dragon's Codex, the only known book of magic in the world, and his best hope for finding a way to stand against the wyrm.
©2016 David A. Wells (P)2016 Podium Publishing
The Dragon's Fang
Summary
Benjamin awakens to a world filled with new powers and possibilities, but also fraught with new dangers and old enemies. Separated from his loved ones, hunted relentlessly, betrayed, and defeated, Ben pushes doggedly toward his objective, and a confrontation that he desperately wants to avoid. The Dragon’s Fang is the explosive conclusion to the Dragonfall trilogy.
©2017 David A. Wells (P)2018 Podium Publishing
Dragonvein: Book Three
Summary
The time has come when the people of Lumnia must unite or be doomed to fall. Ancient foes must become trusted friends if they are to endure. But The Eternal Emperor Shinzan has weapons that have yet to be unleashed. And he will not allow the challenge to his power to go unanswered. Ethan must now seek out the meaning of the prophecy that has guided his fate. With Kat at his side, they walk fearlessly into the unknown. But ghosts from the past return to haunt them. And their love and devotion will be tested to the very limits of endurance.
©2015 Brian D. Anderson (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Anger Is an Energy
Summary
John Lydon is an icon - one of the most recognizable and influential cultural figures of the last 40 years. As Johnny Rotten, he was the lead singer of the Sex Pistols, the world's most notorious band. The Pistols shot to fame in the mid-1970s with songs such as "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen". So incendiary was their impact at the time that in their native England, the Houses of Parliament questioned whether they violated the Traitors and Treasons Act, a crime that carries the death penalty to this day. The Pistols would inspire the formation of numerous other groundbreaking groups, and Lydon would become the unlikely champion of a generation clamoring for change.Following on the heels of the Pistols, Lydon formed Public Image Ltd (PiL), expressing an equally urgent impulse in his character: the constant need to reinvent himself. From their beginnings in 1978, PiL set the groundbreaking template for a band that continues to challenge and thrive to this day while also recording one of the '80s' most powerful anthems, "Rise". John Lydon remains a captivating and dynamic figure to this day - both as a musician and, thanks to his outspoken, controversial, and from-the-hip opinions, as a cultural commentator. In Anger Is an Energy, he looks back on a life full of incident, from his beginnings as a sickly child of immigrant Irish parents growing up in postwar London to his present status as a vibrant alternative hero.
©2014 John Lydon (P)2015 Tantor
Red Flags
Summary
Will China rule the world, or will its dream turn into a nightmare? George Magnus, the trusted economic commentator on China, provides a penetrating account of the threats to China's continued rise. Over the past four decades, China's remarkable transformation has garnered admiration but also sparked concern. Magnus draws on his intimate knowledge of this dynamic nation to uncover the origins of its ascent and show why the economic traps it faces at home and the political challenges it faces abroad pose a serious threat to its continued rise. President Xi, possibly now leader for life, is determined to realize the Chinese dream of rejuvenating the nation and consigning to history the "century of humiliation". But Magnus warns that the Middle Kingdom's future rests on the willingness of its leader to embrace reform and open up, a philosophy that is at odds with his actions to date. Engagingly weaving together economics, politics, and history, Red Flags is an authoritative and lucid account of the troubled times that lie ahead for a nation whose economic fortunes are closely intertwined with our own.
©2018 George Magnus (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
How to Love a Duke in Ten Days
Summary
A Kirkus Reviews 2019 Best Romance Novel, the first in an exciting new series by USA Today best seller Kerrigan Byrne! These men are dark, bold, and brave. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees.... Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for to herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past - one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil. Love takes no prisoners Piers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms. “Romantic, lush, and suspenseful.” (New York Times best-selling author Suzanne Enoch)
©2019 Kerrigan Byrne (P)2019 Macmillan Audio
Centyr Dominance
Summary
Moira Illeniel was the name she lived by, but her true heritage was more complicated than that. From birth she was the secretly adopted daughter of the most powerful wizard in the world, but few knew that her true birthright came from the Centyr lineage. Traveling to Dunbar to discover the fate of her vanished father, Moira must face the darker aspects of her power. Forced to fight a foe unlike anything seen before in Lothion, she will learn the reason for the warnings her mother's shade gave her - why certain abilities should never be used and some lines never crossed - for some doors, once opened, might never be closed again.
©2016 Michael G. Manning (P)2016 Podium Publishing
The Dig
Summary
Reimagining the Sutton Hoo dig, the greatest Anglo-Saxon archaeological discovery on British soil, John Preston brilliantly dramatizes three months of intense activity on a small estate when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure. In the long hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, a widowed farmer, has had her hunch proved correct that the strange mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As an archaeological dig proceeds against a background of mounting national anxiety, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find, and the discovery leads to a host of jealousies and tensions. Elegantly crafted with great tenderness and a poignant attention to detail, The Dig is more than a novel about archaeology. At its very core, this is a novel about the traces of life we all leave behind.
©2007 John Preston (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Progress
Summary
From an examination of official data from such institutions as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, Cato Institute Senior Fellow Johan Norberg paints a portrait of a better future ahead. It's on the television, in the papers, and in our minds. Every day we're bludgeoned by news of how bad everything is - financial collapse, unemployment, growing poverty, environmental disasters, disease, hunger, war. But the rarely acknowledged reality is that our progress over the past few decades has been unprecedented. By almost any index you care to identify, things are markedly better now than they have ever been for almost everyone alive. Examining official data from the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, political commentator Johan Norberg traces just how far we have come in tackling the issues that define our species. While it's true that not every problem has been solved, we do now have a good idea of the solutions, and we know what it will take to see this progress continue. Dramatic, uplifting, and counterintuitive, Progress is a call for optimism in our pessimistic, doom-laden world.
©2016 Johan Norberg (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Cursed Bones
Summary
Isabel reaches Karth, tormented by the influence of the Wraith Queen, and quickly becomes embroiled in the conflict between the House of Karth and the Reishi Army Regency. Before she can form any meaningful alliance with the Karth family, she must first challenge a dark and sinister power that has kept the Isle of Karth in thrall for millennia. The harsh snows of winter have arrived, stalling open warfare in Fellenden, but Zuhl presses the attack, relying on the power of his dragons to carry the day and dealing a blow to Alexander that is as devastating as it is personal. Abandoned by the love of his life, Alexander wakes among the dragons of Tyr. Bedridden by a grievous injury, he struggles with the limitations of his magic in a desperate effort to help the two people he loves most survive the winter, while also preparing his allies for the coming spring. What he discovers about the true nature of his calling might change everything.
©2012 David A. Wells (P)2014 Podium Publishing
War! What Is It Good For?
Summary
"War! . . . . / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing," says the famous song - but archaeology, history, and biology show that war in fact has been good for something. Surprising as it sounds, war has made humanity safer and richer. In War! What Is It Good For?, the renowned historian and archaeologist Ian Morris tells the gruesome, gripping story of 15,000 years of war, going beyond the battles and brutality to reveal what war has really done to and for the world. Stone Age people lived in small, feuding societies and stood a one-in-ten or even one-in-five chance of dying violently. In the 20th century, by contrast - despite two world wars, Hiroshima, and the Holocaust - fewer than one person in a hundred died violently. The explanation: War, and war alone, has created bigger, more complex societies, ruled by governments that have stamped out internal violence. Strangely enough, killing has made the world safer, and the safety it has produced has allowed people to make the world richer too. War has been history's greatest paradox, but this searching study of fifteen thousand years of violence suggests that the next half century is going to be the most dangerous of all time. If we can survive it, the age-old dream of ending war may yet come to pass. But, Morris argues, only if we understand what war has been good for can we know where it will take us next.
©2014 Ian Morris (P)2014 Tantor
The Victorian Internet
Summary
The Victorian Internet tells the colorful story of the telegraph's creation and remarkable impact and of the visionaries, oddballs, and eccentrics who pioneered it, from eighteenth-century French scientist Jean-Antoine Nollet to Samuel F. B. Morse and Thomas Edison. The electric telegraph nullified distance and shrank the world quicker and further than ever before or since, and its story mirrors and predicts that of the Internet in numerous ways.
©1998 Tom Standage. Afterword Copyright 2007 by Tom Standage. Afterword Copyright 2013 by Vinton Cerf (P)2015 Tantor
Thornbear
Summary
Gram lives in the long shadow cast by his father, the late hero Dorian Thornbear. Struggling to find his place in a world where politics and wizardry appear to have replaced the need for men of might and main, he must make his own mark. Trapped within the seemingly safe confines of Castle Cameron, Gram faces both love and tragedy. His choices will not only define himself but serve to remind others of his family's legacy and the reason only a fool threatens those a Thornbear protects.
©2014 Michael G. Manning (P)2015 Podium Publishing
Strategy
Summary
This is the classic book on war as we know it. During his long life, Basil H. Liddell Hart was considered one of the world's foremost military thinkers - a man generally regarded as the "Clausewitz of the 20th century". Liddell Hart stressed movement, flexibility, surprise. He saw that in most military campaigns dislocation of the enemy's psychological and physical balance is prelude to victory. This dislocation results from a strategic indirect approach. Reflect for a moment on the results of direct confrontation (trench war in World War I) versus indirect dislocation (Blitzkreig in World II). Liddell Hart is also tonic for business and political planning: Just change the vocabulary and his concepts fit.
©1954, 1967 The Executors of Lady Liddell Hart, deceased (P)2019 Tantor
Journey of Fate
Summary
It has been 18 years since the fall of the Reborn King, and Jayden Stedding, son of Gewey, dreams of adventure. Life as a farmer in Sharpstone offers very little excitement. But like his father before him, fate will descend like a storm and soon he will learn that with adventure comes peril. And when you are the son of a god, that peril can shatter worlds. Heaven is once again in turmoil and Gewey Stedding is missing. And it falls to Jayden to find him. But his journey will take him places even the gods fear to tread. Carried to the edge of madness, he must restore hope and prevent time itself from being upended.
©2018 Brian D. Anderson (P)2018 Audible, Inc.